Entertainment

Sound Check – Issue 13

Joe sat down with James – self professed Muso and Hamilton lover #1 – to discuss how he put on a gig in town to celebrate his birthday and the music that he loves; Rather than let culture be something that happens to him, he got stuck in and built it up

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Entertainment

What it takes to be a Genre: Desert Blues.  

Guitar driven, rolling beats. Quick looping drums, and jazz-like solos. Lyrics that float through your ears and reverberate in your brain. Northan and West Africa. Indigo blue tagelmust. Desert Blues music is mostly in their native language of Tamasheq, but understanding it is not so important as feeling it.   My first exposure

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Entertainment

Soundcheck – Issue 8 2026

Stepping up from four letter words  After a lot of suspense, June 12th 2026 is set to be the date for the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s third studio album, ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’.   In the past, she’s been known for titling her previous albums with four letters and no more;

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Columns

Bring back Radio alarm clocks.

I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life waking up to the dreaded sound of Apple’s radar alarm sound. Dididi-dididi- dididi-dididi DIDIDI-DIDIDI. And I never stopped to think about why. Why was I torturing myself this way every morning, letting this sonic harassment continue. I decided enough was enough. I’d had it. After literally 2 minutes on Facebook

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Entertainment

Soundcheck – Issue 6 2026

Album review Bri Louise   Pōneke based, Bri Louise, brings a calm gentleness to this Album; you can hear the smile in her voice and the love she has for those she sings about. With smooth jazz and R ‘n’ B notes, the Album was recorded live, with a ~20-piece support band/choir, giving it

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Entertainment

Soundcheck – Issue 5 2026

The Beths – gig Review  We’re in an old church-turned-music-venue, you can feel the lingering evangelical spirit whipping up the crowd into a holy fervour, worshiping the divine power that is The Beths. It’s hot as hell, packed to bursting with students and mid-30s day-one fans alike.  My friends and I manage to push almost

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Entertainment

YouTube live Concerts 

Are you too broke to go to live concerts? Do you live in an island nation that your favourite artist won’t ever come to? Or maybe they came to Aotearoa, but now it’s over and the post-concert depression is hitting too hard? Let me introduce you to the world of YouTube live concerts.   Music is at its most

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Entertainment

Who are we? What do we do? What is the deal? How do you get involved?

Nexus Soundcheck is the heart and soul of music journalism in Kirikiriroa. We want to be at every gig, reviewing every newly released album, and interviewing the best and most promising local talent. We’ll be in the mosh with you. We’ll be at the shitty open mic nights with you, and we’ll be with you at the merch table buying a CD withour last

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Features

Spooky Moons, Spooky Moods

It’s a windswept October’s night; a long howl echoes through the night, curling and searching its way through the misty streets. The clouds scud across the sky, flitting in and out of the shadows. Hanging in the sky, gazing over the world gone mad, sits a shining celestial body: the

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Columns

The Light in the Dark

Cue Beetoven, symphony No. 5.  Duuh duh duh duuhhh  Duh duh duh duuuuhhhhhhhh…   That’s the song I get when I’m standing in a gothic cathedral, staring up at the vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows shifting the light into colours not previously seen by mankind, the intricate details of every wall

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The Corporation that Conquered Nations 

When we think of the British conquest of India, we often imagine it as a series of red-coated British soldiers marching across the subcontinent, conquering India much in the same way as they did elsewhere in the world. We often talk of the British conquering India, but this phrase hides

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THE FINNISH LINE #3

Written by Martta Tikka About Rhythm / Rytmitajuttomuudesta Now that I’ve been in New Zealand for over three months, I’ve had to admit to myself that I’m a bad dancer. I blame my home country for that. I found out that Kiwis have this thing called Jump Jam. One of

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The Finnish Line 

Written by Martta Tikka  After a careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that Finnish people don’t feed each other nearly as often as they should. During these past weeks I’ve learnt just how easy it is to get people to show up if you promise you’re going to

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Doco Filmmaker Kez on Travel, People, and Stoke

Kieran Hodges, interviewed by Toby Brockelbank Toby interviews Kieran Hodges, Kez, who he’s been lucky enough to meet. Known in the local skate community for filming down in Palmy, Kez went from building film sets in the UK to travelling the world making documentaries. We discussed how skating relates to

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WHAT’S THE BUZZ CUZ? 

BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES MADE IT WEIRD  Let’s talk about sex. Yep, we’re going there. It’s actually kind of funny how surprised people can be when you tell them our tipuna were getting it on. As if sex arrived in Aotearoa post-colonisation or something.  Sex was already a pretty normal part

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He reo mo ake ake – A forever language.

Written By Kata Roberts I think back to a time when te reo Māori was being pushed out of our schools, our workplaces,and our everyday lives. I think back to 1972. I imagine standing there, among thousands of Māori, watching our voices make their way toParliament. I wonder what it

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MORE THAN A KETE 

The stories, skill and knowledge woven into raranga  Raranga has always been practical. Our tīpuna used what was around them to make the things they needed. Harakeke could become kete for carrying and storing things, muka could be used for clothing and cordage, and raranga was used to make whāriki

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Te Ao o te Kaituhi

Written By Nadia Solomon Kei te kōrero Māori koe? Kei te tuhi koe i te reo Māori? He maha ngā tūpono mōu.   Ka rongo pea koe ki te mahi o ngā kaiwhakamāori, he matua tērā mahi. Mā te mahi a ngā kaiwhakamāori, e whānui ai ngā mōhiotanga o ngā mea

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THE HEALING POTENTIAL OF OUR NATIVE FUNGI 

What happens when Māori research looks at healing through a different lens?  You might have looked at our $50 note and noticed the striking blue mushroom sitting beside Sir Āpirana Ngata. That mushroom is Entoloma hochstetteri, a native species found in Aotearoa.  It is more than just a cool design.

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The Notesapp 

“I BO”  the syntax of colonials  the blackened connotation  of creoles  the substrate of the enslaved   lives  with the lexicon killed   The bastard children of conquerors  growing gardens  the blood that’s spilled  no child looks like his skin  that’s the price of the thrill  when your descendants are bought  Your

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The Notesapp – I Miss You 

You were waiting for me,  The sun met your skin,  Absorbing rays like they were yours to take.  I almost skimmed past,  But you caught my attention,  The right moment – our moment.  Golden locks settled inside you.  There was something clean about you,   with the smell of warm grain,  

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What’s the Buzz – Luxon needs to Beehive himself 

I think we bullied Christopher Luxon a bit too hard.  I never thought I’d say that, but after all the jokes about him avoiding questions, he’s really started to speak his mind. If you think that’s a good thing, then what I’d say to you is that what’s going on

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MADE TO BE WORN 

Who decided Māori fashion was only for special occasions?  There is this idea that Māori clothing and adornment belong in a particular category: something traditional,

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The End of Oak Street

Rating: 5/5 When I found out that the woman, the myth, the icon Anne Hathaway and his lordship, Jedi Master and Otter Enthusiast Ewan McGregor

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Elle

Rating: 4/5  After more than a decade since the last film in the world of Legally Blonde, we return with a 1990’s prequel, known as

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The Gentleman – Season 2

Rating: 4/5 After rewatching the five-star masterpiece that was The Gentlemen’s first season, I leapt into season two with excitement; Theo James was back as

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An Ode to Winter 

Missing the cold, dark nights? Want to feel the warmth of a lovely winter dish again? Here is the cure to all your post-winter depression: 

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November Rain  

In the aftermath of 9/11, HST wrote ‘Doom is the operative ethic.’  Anyone that tells you they’ve got the handle on how things are going

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LABOUR’S LETHARGY 

Labour have sputtered out a few new commitments, if you still believe they’re capable of committing to anything.  After National came out and announced their

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